- E8519D16-7DF0-4279-9BAE-AA31D48A99A2.jpeg (175.18 KiB) Viewed 1367 times
- C6B017CE-3AAD-495B-B89F-679EB28B0184.jpeg (280.99 KiB) Viewed 1367 times
- 3F3C0C59-CCE7-4771-B4CE-0F27F7751FB1.jpeg (262.67 KiB) Viewed 1367 times
North America, First and Second.
-
OnHellas
- Posts: 2610
- Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2014 2:12 pm
- Location: By the sea, Kent, UK
- Has thanked: 571 times
- Been thanked: 892 times
Re: North America, First and Second.
So that was Yellowstone. I know that my descriptions can’t even begin to do it justice. My photos only just manage to give idea of the things that are there to see.
Have a look on the internet at some of the professional pictures. Maybe even put it in your list of places to visit. Days could be spent exploring the different stop of points. Camping, hiking, fishing.
Anyway, enough of that.
From the cabin we headed further west. Monday morning was bright and the temperature was a bit more bike friendly.
Idaho is a big State. We rode for a couple of hundred miles coming across just a few small villages. Minimal traffic made the day just perfect. When the sun is shining, your wheels are turning.....Wow! I do enjoy those ‘why I ride a bike’ moments. I know that I’ve said this before in the Australian and Kiwi posts of this journey, but I am one luck guy.
With all the stuff that goes on, has gone on and will continue going on....both personally, politically, globally.....I appreciate so much where am at. That I’m at in fact.
We were heading to where we are now. Bellevue, Idaho. No, I’d never heard of it either. Not before looking at the map and seeing where was about 200 miles from where we started and would allow a stop off at The Craters of the Moon National Park on route.
Lava flows and spatters, lots of pretty little flowers. No evidence of a ‘Disney’ fakes moon landing. No Apollo parts laying about.
Do fir trees grow in the moon?
Our $80 for two annual National Park Pass is another of this trips wonders. The best value considering that Yellowstone in it own would have been sixty Bucks for the two bikes.
So here we are. Bellevue. Small town Idaho.
A day off to rest, write this and do a few chores. Another nice clean room to stay in. We still haven’t got back to camping....got all the gear though so still feel like proper adventurers....what ever one of those is.
From here it’ll be west until it’s too wet to go any further wester. Then we’ll go north...to Alaska. Via a bike service, tyres etc in Canada. It’s all in hand, sort of.
I’ll report back in a day or two but for now I’ll very happily tell you that it is still....
Two happy people, two happy bikes.
Have a look on the internet at some of the professional pictures. Maybe even put it in your list of places to visit. Days could be spent exploring the different stop of points. Camping, hiking, fishing.
Anyway, enough of that.
From the cabin we headed further west. Monday morning was bright and the temperature was a bit more bike friendly.
Idaho is a big State. We rode for a couple of hundred miles coming across just a few small villages. Minimal traffic made the day just perfect. When the sun is shining, your wheels are turning.....Wow! I do enjoy those ‘why I ride a bike’ moments. I know that I’ve said this before in the Australian and Kiwi posts of this journey, but I am one luck guy.
With all the stuff that goes on, has gone on and will continue going on....both personally, politically, globally.....I appreciate so much where am at. That I’m at in fact.
We were heading to where we are now. Bellevue, Idaho. No, I’d never heard of it either. Not before looking at the map and seeing where was about 200 miles from where we started and would allow a stop off at The Craters of the Moon National Park on route.
Lava flows and spatters, lots of pretty little flowers. No evidence of a ‘Disney’ fakes moon landing. No Apollo parts laying about.
Do fir trees grow in the moon?
Our $80 for two annual National Park Pass is another of this trips wonders. The best value considering that Yellowstone in it own would have been sixty Bucks for the two bikes.
So here we are. Bellevue. Small town Idaho.
A day off to rest, write this and do a few chores. Another nice clean room to stay in. We still haven’t got back to camping....got all the gear though so still feel like proper adventurers....what ever one of those is.
From here it’ll be west until it’s too wet to go any further wester. Then we’ll go north...to Alaska. Via a bike service, tyres etc in Canada. It’s all in hand, sort of.
I’ll report back in a day or two but for now I’ll very happily tell you that it is still....
Two happy people, two happy bikes.
-
OnHellas
- Posts: 2610
- Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2014 2:12 pm
- Location: By the sea, Kent, UK
- Has thanked: 571 times
- Been thanked: 892 times
Re: North America, First and Second.
These photos are bad. My skills just didn’t shine through, much like what I was trying to capture through the lens. You got to love a trier though....haven’t you??
- EF384643-FFF3-49D2-9F71-7BA886B011BD.jpeg (144.83 KiB) Viewed 1365 times
- 5E7B65E8-2FDC-4704-9A53-3EA825C1ACFD.jpeg (227.26 KiB) Viewed 1365 times
- 4C91A1FB-4CB4-4A3B-8E64-52A1CF219F7A.jpeg (244.09 KiB) Viewed 1365 times
-
OnHellas
- Posts: 2610
- Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2014 2:12 pm
- Location: By the sea, Kent, UK
- Has thanked: 571 times
- Been thanked: 892 times
Re: North America, First and Second.
From Bellevue to Ontario, in Oregon, not Canada, we had two options. The shorter one involved a fair bit of Interstate and the longer one via a scenic highway and a mountain pass.
The choice was fairly easy so we headed north on the longer more scenic and probably colder route.
It has to be noted that one of us stated that they were getting fed up with the low temperatures that seemed to have been with us for ages, I agreed.
As has happened a lot during our Northbound American stage so far, the scenery and lack of traffic whilst not actually warming you up, keep your spirits up and help you remind yourself how special the whole thing is.
Mind you, stopping for fuel in Stanley and picking up a petrol station sandwich for lunch didn’t help Sarah’s mood much when she discovered it was still partially frozen. She was also thoroughly underwhelmed with the cup of coffee she’d bought.
I don’t like coffee so no problem there, and my sandwich wasn’t frozen so at least I was happy.....haha.
The route had been up fairly high but from Stanley we started to descend and the temperature gradually went up. The sun has been shining all day but the lower we went the better we felt. The road followed a beautiful fast flowing river for ages, it seemed like we rode down hill for 10 or 20 miles. It couldn’t have been 20 but it felt like it. Evidence of winter avalanches and rock falls were clear to see at times, gouges and dents in the road surface, tracks of broken trees. Twisted and broken crash barriers.
The last bit of the days ride was a 10 minute blast on the interstate and then we were done. Another 240 miles in the book. Another day closer to the coast.
Whilst not ecstatic with the day we still qualified as our usual....
Two happy people, two happy bikes.
The choice was fairly easy so we headed north on the longer more scenic and probably colder route.
It has to be noted that one of us stated that they were getting fed up with the low temperatures that seemed to have been with us for ages, I agreed.
As has happened a lot during our Northbound American stage so far, the scenery and lack of traffic whilst not actually warming you up, keep your spirits up and help you remind yourself how special the whole thing is.
Mind you, stopping for fuel in Stanley and picking up a petrol station sandwich for lunch didn’t help Sarah’s mood much when she discovered it was still partially frozen. She was also thoroughly underwhelmed with the cup of coffee she’d bought.
I don’t like coffee so no problem there, and my sandwich wasn’t frozen so at least I was happy.....haha.
The route had been up fairly high but from Stanley we started to descend and the temperature gradually went up. The sun has been shining all day but the lower we went the better we felt. The road followed a beautiful fast flowing river for ages, it seemed like we rode down hill for 10 or 20 miles. It couldn’t have been 20 but it felt like it. Evidence of winter avalanches and rock falls were clear to see at times, gouges and dents in the road surface, tracks of broken trees. Twisted and broken crash barriers.
The last bit of the days ride was a 10 minute blast on the interstate and then we were done. Another 240 miles in the book. Another day closer to the coast.
Whilst not ecstatic with the day we still qualified as our usual....
Two happy people, two happy bikes.
-
OnHellas
- Posts: 2610
- Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2014 2:12 pm
- Location: By the sea, Kent, UK
- Has thanked: 571 times
- Been thanked: 892 times
Re: North America, First and Second.
Ontario to Burns was the next stage and if I’m honest not much happened. We bought some fuel along the way, the days temperature was much more favourable, our bike purred along nicely and the slightly downward mood of the previous day, like the previous day, was a thing of the past.
It was one of those days where although we were only going to ride 130 miles it seemed to take all day.
We did leave as late as possible taking advantage of the 11am checkout. We did stop for a cup of tea and a cake. Cold tea, massive cake, tasteless cake. The waitress loved our accents though.....
The route was pretty much all along one road, highway 20.
That’s it, no photos, no super events or once in a lifetime experiences. But a good day, a good day.
Two happy people, two happy bikes.
It was one of those days where although we were only going to ride 130 miles it seemed to take all day.
We did leave as late as possible taking advantage of the 11am checkout. We did stop for a cup of tea and a cake. Cold tea, massive cake, tasteless cake. The waitress loved our accents though.....
The route was pretty much all along one road, highway 20.
That’s it, no photos, no super events or once in a lifetime experiences. But a good day, a good day.
Two happy people, two happy bikes.
-
OnHellas
- Posts: 2610
- Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2014 2:12 pm
- Location: By the sea, Kent, UK
- Has thanked: 571 times
- Been thanked: 892 times
Re: North America, First and Second.
For the next bit there are photos. For those of you disappointed and bored by the lack of visual stimulation for the last couple of posts the wait is over. Here it is.....
- 80685B6B-8F94-488C-92A4-98F8C8E49681.jpeg (185.54 KiB) Viewed 1347 times
-
OnHellas
- Posts: 2610
- Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2014 2:12 pm
- Location: By the sea, Kent, UK
- Has thanked: 571 times
- Been thanked: 892 times
Re: North America, First and Second.
Oregon is another state with some big open spaces with not a lot to look at. But we had a great day. Not quite a Wow! day although the Clam Chowder at our lunch stop in a tiny town nearly qualified as one.
We went across open plains, through forest and also across a section of marshland. The thing that was with us, or rather not with us, was traffic.
Chiloquin, or rather just outside it was our home for the night.
The next morning we set off to Crater Lake. A short ride up into the hills through the forest in the fresh, and fresher as we climbed, air had us both smiling. The chap in the booth at the entrance to the National Park was a very happy a jolly person, a fan of British TV detective programmes apparently.
We carried on up the hill, turned left on to the Crater Loop Road and Wow!
It was another First and Second moment. I must say that the Second time there was much more of a Wow! than I remember my first being. Maybe the weather was different?? The stunning blue skies, snow patches and reflections on the still lake water....Wow!
The Loop road wasn’t open all the way around, maybe due to a rock fall as we saw large machinery along the way. So we doubled back to the main lodge for Sarah to find a sticker....but no stickers...not one...they had hot dogs though so we bought two of those and sat in the sun licking the mustard and bbq sauce off of our fingers.
The rest of the ride took us to the coast. The second half of the rest of the ride was quite busy. I found an ice cream shop along the way so a pit stop was made. I think that we might be joining in with the American food habits a bit to much sometimes....mind you, ice cream can never be wrong, can it?
By 6pm tiredness was becoming a factor so the last treat of the day would have to wait until the next day.
All we had to do was find the accommodation, argue that the price seemed to have gone up by $30, and unpack once more.
Two happy people, two happy bikes.
We went across open plains, through forest and also across a section of marshland. The thing that was with us, or rather not with us, was traffic.
Chiloquin, or rather just outside it was our home for the night.
The next morning we set off to Crater Lake. A short ride up into the hills through the forest in the fresh, and fresher as we climbed, air had us both smiling. The chap in the booth at the entrance to the National Park was a very happy a jolly person, a fan of British TV detective programmes apparently.
We carried on up the hill, turned left on to the Crater Loop Road and Wow!
It was another First and Second moment. I must say that the Second time there was much more of a Wow! than I remember my first being. Maybe the weather was different?? The stunning blue skies, snow patches and reflections on the still lake water....Wow!
The Loop road wasn’t open all the way around, maybe due to a rock fall as we saw large machinery along the way. So we doubled back to the main lodge for Sarah to find a sticker....but no stickers...not one...they had hot dogs though so we bought two of those and sat in the sun licking the mustard and bbq sauce off of our fingers.
The rest of the ride took us to the coast. The second half of the rest of the ride was quite busy. I found an ice cream shop along the way so a pit stop was made. I think that we might be joining in with the American food habits a bit to much sometimes....mind you, ice cream can never be wrong, can it?
By 6pm tiredness was becoming a factor so the last treat of the day would have to wait until the next day.
All we had to do was find the accommodation, argue that the price seemed to have gone up by $30, and unpack once more.
Two happy people, two happy bikes.
-
OnHellas
- Posts: 2610
- Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2014 2:12 pm
- Location: By the sea, Kent, UK
- Has thanked: 571 times
- Been thanked: 892 times
Re: North America, First and Second.
- B62EEA04-1BC2-4C8D-90C9-222373DE60B2.jpeg (185.19 KiB) Viewed 1346 times
- 32F06F38-DC46-43EB-93BE-B5ECB4D80B0D.jpeg (118.2 KiB) Viewed 1346 times
- 86FA8BA1-ECC3-4285-B272-B3FE9E87F748.jpeg (138.68 KiB) Viewed 1346 times
-
OnHellas
- Posts: 2610
- Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2014 2:12 pm
- Location: By the sea, Kent, UK
- Has thanked: 571 times
- Been thanked: 892 times
Re: North America, First and Second.
Yesterday, Sunday the 23rd of June. A slow start to the day, underwhelming motel breakfast, laundry, bike checks and general time wasting meant that it was nearly 2 o’clock in the afternoon before we got our bike gear on to go and see the Giant Redwood Trees.
Another First and Second but for those that have seen them you’ll know why I was keen to go back for a second visit.
A small road from just across the way from this Motel leads up in to the trees. A few miles in and the tarmac ends followed by a good few miles of gravel track right amongst the huge trees. Wow! Wow! Wow!
I don’t know ball the details but there are trees that have stood for over 1000 years. Luckily someone a while back realised that cutting them all down would probably be a mistake.
Coming out the other end we found a covered bridge, only a small one and not one of the best but a covered bridge none the less. It was then down the twisty tarmac road back to the coast and then a 20 mile ride south on highway 101 to a proper tourist site. Another First and Second, if I’m honest I only did my Second because Sarah wanted to go. So obviously I obliged.
After that even a trip to a supermarket with the worlds most un talkative checkout lady couldn’t put a damper on the day. So I’m 100% confident in stating that it is still most definitely.....
Two happy people, two happy bikes.
Another First and Second but for those that have seen them you’ll know why I was keen to go back for a second visit.
A small road from just across the way from this Motel leads up in to the trees. A few miles in and the tarmac ends followed by a good few miles of gravel track right amongst the huge trees. Wow! Wow! Wow!
I don’t know ball the details but there are trees that have stood for over 1000 years. Luckily someone a while back realised that cutting them all down would probably be a mistake.
Coming out the other end we found a covered bridge, only a small one and not one of the best but a covered bridge none the less. It was then down the twisty tarmac road back to the coast and then a 20 mile ride south on highway 101 to a proper tourist site. Another First and Second, if I’m honest I only did my Second because Sarah wanted to go. So obviously I obliged.
After that even a trip to a supermarket with the worlds most un talkative checkout lady couldn’t put a damper on the day. So I’m 100% confident in stating that it is still most definitely.....
Two happy people, two happy bikes.
-
OnHellas
- Posts: 2610
- Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2014 2:12 pm
- Location: By the sea, Kent, UK
- Has thanked: 571 times
- Been thanked: 892 times
Re: North America, First and Second.
- F5B0277F-127A-4BE8-90E2-4AFB2612984E.jpeg (239.38 KiB) Viewed 1344 times
- 2A166AAE-0972-43A9-897C-E78966C2D819.jpeg (231.38 KiB) Viewed 1344 times
- A58E495F-CC3A-4625-8578-EB9EE717CC56.jpeg (223.27 KiB) Viewed 1344 times
